Classic Episode Remastered: Steve Davis on fame, snooker, and modular synths

Jul 1, 2025

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Watch the full video version of this episode over at youtube.com/@WeNotDiving

This is easily in my top 3 favourite episodes of the 170-odd we've done. The sound of it was originally pretty terrible though, it was a constant battle in the early days of the podcast to get people recording in good spaces.

Luckily we kept most of the individual mic channels and the software has come on leaps and bounds recently, so it's now very easy to convert a very roomy mic recording into something that sounds like it was done in a proper radio studio.

Steve Davis was one of the very biggest sporting celebrities in the 1980s. He totally dominated the sport of snooker in Tiger Woods-like fashion, winning the world title six times and setting unprecedented levels of excellence in front of enormous television audiences. The 18m who tuned in on BBC2 to watch him lose the 1985 final on the final ball of the final frame, well after midnight, is still a record.

But he's also a major music head, DJ and modular synth-playing member of experimental group The Utopia Strong, who has always been a very interesting character. The Utopia Strong releases since we first broadcast this conversation two years ago are... well, strong, especially the BBC Sessions release which was recorded in a live session at the legendary Maida Vale studios.

And he's also Eddie Hearn's Godfather.

So we talk about all of the above, but perhaps most interestingly the experience of fame at that level and how to cope with it. Having a really top manager helps, we discover.

This is well worth a re-listen if you caught it first time round, and if you didn't - well, you're in for a treat.

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